Sambad, One of Odisha’s Largest Media Groups, Sees Massive Traffic Surge with Publive

About Sambad 

Sambad is Odisha’s largest circulated and most widely read Odia daily, launched in 1984 as the state’s first vernacular morninger. With eight editions and a readership of nearly 70 lakhs, Sambad pioneered offset printing and specialized supplements in the region. Known for its journalistic excellence and social impact, Sambad has evolved into a movement beyond a newspaper. Its 24x7 news portal and strong social media presence continue to connect Odia readers worldwide.

The Challenge

While the brand has maintained editorial excellence over decades, the digital landscape posed new challenges. The group wanted to manage all their digital assets from a single, scalable platform. They were looking for a partner who could streamline workflows, offer centralised control across their websites, and ensure strong backend infrastructure to support future growth. With a sharp focus on website optimisation, better discoverability, and revenue generation, Sambad Group needed a solution tailored for digital growth.

The Publive Transformation

Sambad partnered with Publive to power its digital journey with AI-first platform, real-time analytics, and seamless content workflows. From onboarding to post-migration optimisation, Publive enabled: 

• Smooth, zero-downtime migration across all three websites
  

• Mobile-first performance upgrades
  

• Built-in SEO automation
  

• Enhanced backend workflows for editorial efficiency
• Smart distribution channels
  

Platform-Wide Growth at Scale

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After migrating to Publive, all three digital properties under the Sambad Group experienced significant improvements in traffic, visibility, and user engagement across Google surfaces.

Sambad (Odia) saw an 95.4% increase in page views post-migration, driven by faster load times, improved discoverability, and a cleaner layout. 

Sambad (Odia) saw a 57.3% rise in active users, reflecting stronger reader engagement driven by improved content quality, distribution, and user experience. 

A System Built for Discoverability

With Publive’s built-in SEO modules, smart linking, structured data, and analytics-driven content tools, Sambad websites started ranking better across surfaces like Google Discover, Google News, and Search Results. The growth was not just high-volume, it was high-quality, driving relevant traffic that stayed, engaged, and returned.

Sambad (Odia) saw a 63.5%  increase in Google Discover clicks and 75.7% in impressions, highlighting improved content formatting and relevance that boosted visibility in personalized feeds.

Sambad (Odia) saw a 11x surge in Google News clicks and a 10x rise in impressions, thanks to better content categorization, freshness, and structured metadata powered by Publive. 

Sambad (English) has witnessed a remarkable digital transformation across key metrics, showcasing the impact of an optimized, mobile-responsive experience and SEO-driven improvements. Page views have surged by 237%, while active users have grown by an impressive 378%, indicating significantly higher engagement and improved content discoverability. 

This upward trend is further supported by a 6x increase in Google Discover clicks and a 5.4x  jump in impressions, signaling enhanced topical authority and relevance in personalized news feeds.Most notably, Google News performance has skyrocketed, with clicks up by 2.4x and impressions increasing by 7.5x, underlining the platform’s elevated credibility and visibility in top stories and curated news sections. 

The Road Ahead

From Odisha’s leading media group to a future-ready digital publishing powerhouse, Sambad Group is now better equipped to serve millions of users daily, with a tech stack that keeps pace with their ambition. Powered by Publive, they’re not just keeping up, they’re leading from the front.